1940's Regal Parlor Guitar

When I started this blog, my hope was to feature Depression/World War II era guitars, guitars that were owned and played by the working man and guitars that were a little off the beaten path.  This little Regal has all of those characteristics. 

She is not the rarest bird in the flock, but who cares.  Rare just means that you will forever be afraid to take it out of its perfectly humidified situation for a romp through some string snapping blues. 
This guitar has been played, passed around and played again.  It probably hasn't seen a case its whole life.  As a matter of fact, everytime I see one of these listed for sale they look the same way - paint splattered, nicks, gouges and a little rust.  You can find these listed for sale in one form or another pretty regularly.  I have seen this same guitar with all sorts of different appointments - floating bridge, fixed bridge, slot head, flat head, round neck, square neck, fret markers, no fret markers and even a numbering system for Hawaiian style instruction which leads one to call this guitar a student model.  Affixing the "Student Model" title really sucks the mojo from this instrument --- so lets just consider it a parlor guitar.

I really like the sound of this guitar.  It is a small bodied, ladder braced instrument but doesn't have the harsh tone that many of its cousins have.  The tone is much mellower and a bit more midrangy.  Its not blow you away loud, but plenty loud enough.  It doesn't win 1st place in any tone and volume categories but if you take the tonal sum of all its characteristics, then I think you will find its a winner.

This guitar came to me in original condition and if perfection were called for, she would need some work.  It could definitely use a neck reset, tuners are a little tight and in the near future I hope to cut a new saddle and saddle slot as there is very little string break angle right now.  That extra pressure on the top provided by a better string angle should increase those tonal and volume characteristics.  Outside of the new saddle, I think I'll keep her just the way she is.  I keep it in open tunings and bang around on it with a slide.  It performs really well in this situation and plays quite nicely in first position as well.


About as Plain Jane as they come.  I'd add more photos, but there is not much more to see.

This is one of those guitars that when you start noodling on it, you have a hard time putting it down.  It fits close to the body and the sounds that emanate are very pleasing.

Now its time to give away a secret.  Part of me hates to do it, but what the hell - I only need one of these guitars and the real spirit of this blog is to attempt to inform of the good bargains that can still be had out there.  You Ready??? 

I paid around $60 for this baby!!!!  That is less than a tank of gas in my car - less than a basket of groceries - less than a night out at a nice restaurant - I could go on and on.  As I've said, I see a number of them go up for sale and have many times seen them sold for less than $100.  So there it is, one of the few bargains left out there in the guitar world.  Go get 'em.

1960's Truetone Electric Archtop

1960's Truetone

Here is a 1960's Truetone electric archtop guitar.  Truetone was the name of the electronics division of Western Auto Supply.  Kay produced these guitars under the Truetone name for Western Auto the same way they would produce instruments under the Silvertone name for Sears or under the Old Kraftsman name for Spiegel. 

I had been looking for one of these for a long time.  All of the ones I had seen were in need of some sort of repair that would push the cost of the instrument way beyond its value.  Patience paid off and this guitar came to me just as it was described, in excellent condition.  The neck had been reset(though you can see the work done-it's a pretty good job) and the electronics work great.  The action is nice with room left to move on the adjustable floating bridge.  The guitar is all original including the pickguard which is often missing on these guitars.  I was searching for something I was going to have to fix on this guitar, but could find nothing. 

I love the sound of this guitar and the "pancake" pickup.  I also love the simplicity of the setup - one pickup, one volume, and one tone knob.  Wonderfully clean with the volume cranked down and nasty with the volume turned all the way up.  This guitar is a blast to play and is getting a lot of use right now.  A fantastic guitar built for Thoreau as he cries,  "Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity".

My Imagination:

     A friend of mine stopped by the other night.  He is a fine blues picker and an even finer conversationalist. 
      This nights conversation was spurred on by a 1940's Regal guitar that I own and that he was picking on.  The guitar is in wonderful shape for its age and this fact stirred up a whole bunch of questions from the both of us.  Why was it so well preserved, who owned it.  The list goes on and on.
      My friend told me that if he were walking in a field and came upon an old tool half buried in the soil, he could stand over that tool for an hour wondering about its history as well as how this piece of ground became its final resting place.
      My friend questioned his mindset, knowing full well that most of our scurrying population couldn't find this mystery he was imagining to be intriguing.  I responded quickly.  A righteous thinker shouldn't be ill at ease with such thoughts.  This is the way we should be thinking.  These items of the past deserve scrutiny and should invade our imagination and enliven our subconscious, in turn, making us more conscious of the world that presently surrounds us.
      I told my friend that I tend to live with one foot in the past.  The way he would think about that old tool is exactly the way I have always thought about old guitars.  This process of thought has always been very important to me.  Expressing these thoughts is how we locate spirits who are kindred and any day in which we find a kindred spirit is a good day.
      We no more knew the real story behind that tool in the dirt than we did the story behind that old Regal we were picking.  So why not give it a story?  The suspension of disbelief has always driven the best guitar pickers, the best songwriters, the best storytellers and the best listeners(a lost art in and of itself).  If there are no facts to support the life of a given item or guitar, doesn't it deserve to be given a history that stands as much of a chance of being true as it does being false.
      I've often thought that as guitars are passed through time to a new home that they shoud be accompanied by an index card that provides a brief history of the instrument.  Presently, I am not so sure of this fairly idealistic hope.
      I have a 1920's Supertone parlor guitar that has aged and worn so beautifully and so naturally that it just stirs my imagination.  It looks like it was rode hard and I desperately want to believe it lived with a hobo through his travels during The Great Depression or it possibly rode on the back of a cowboys bedroll as he coursed the plains.  If I had received this guitar and found that index card advising me that this was simply an instrument left in a closet after a failed attempt to master it, would I love it less?  Quite possibly.  I love this guitar because I have been able to surround it with my own story.  Imagination is my drug and this guitar feeds and fuels the habit.
      I suppose that in a perfect world of guitar history I would be provided with index cards for about half the instruments I come across.  I believe that oftentimes truth is stranger than fiction and those historical index cards could provide a far better story than I could ever imagine.  Of course, this means that fifty percent of the guitars I come across would remain unaccounted for and need a story attached to it.  The wonderful part of this process is the story we create doesn't have to come out of thin air.  These guitars provide us with a lot of historical information simply by remaining in circulation.  We are able to date them quite specifically and we can generally be sure of the builder and the guitars geographic genesis.  Because I like to collect depression era instruments I can look at that instrument and knowing the date that it was built be able to have an idea of the type of clothes the original owner wore, the type of car they drove,and how the local gas station and main street looked.  When you have no other information to go on, this is where the story of an instrument can begin.
      I guess I have chosen to direct my attention to such companies as Regal, Kay, Harmony, Supertone, etc. not only because their hayday was in the 1930's and 1940's but also because I feel their history/story is more opaque.  Much more so than a Martin or a Gibson.
      With old Martins and Gibsons you are pretty much assured of purchasing a top quality instrument.  Not so with the so called "catalogue guitars" as they were often tiered in terms of quality in the production line.  These companies made many more entry level instruments than they did high end instruments.  The possibility of tripping over a diamond in the rough lies solely in these brands.  Martins and Gibsons reputation is based on the fact that they do not make diamonds in the rough(mind you, we are still talking about the work these companies did in the 30's and 40's).
      Wading through the history of these catalogue guitars is like being on a constant treasure hunt.  I can still occasionally come across a model I have never seen before remaining simultaneously intrigued, entertained, and floored by its unique musicality. 
      Imagine a production line of ten luthiers at Harmony's Chicago factory.  Perhaps out of the ten, nine are good at what they do, but the tenth luthier just happens to have the magic touch.  For him, guitar building is innate.  His talents and love for the process flow through his hands and into the instrument.  He gets his hands on a rogue piece of timber, one that has musical qualities and characteristics that far exceed all the other woods he has worked with that month.  Tap tones sing to him and he braces an instrument as if his life depended on it.  Thats the diamond in the rough and the instrument that I will forever be in search of.
      I can't help but think that oftentimes reality just isn't as good as our dreams.  In time, I have come to realize why I provide content for this site and why guitars stand at the forefront of what I consider art.  My imagination is at stake and in the hands of these instruments.  These old guitars allow me to extinguish reality, letting my imagination be the ruler of the moment.

1940's Regal Playtime Deluxe

Here is a beautiful Regal that dates to wartime or just prewar.  It has been very difficult to pin down an exact date as I have only seen one other example of this particular instrument in all my years.  A very rare bird indeed.  This was an ebay purchase that needed a bit of work to get back into playing condition.  It came to me in wonderful cosmetic shape which makes it even rarer.  You may find one of these someday lurking in the loft of an octogenarians barn, but I'm pretty sure you will never come across one in this nice of shape.

My friend James Ralston did an amazing job getting this guitar into fantastic playing shape.  He had to reset the neck, redo some bracing, replace the tuner buttons, do a little fretwork and install a bridge doctor to keep a persnickety top from bulging when tuned to pitch.  The bridge doctor was an enormous help.  The top is now holding its place and some say that the bridge doctor goes a long way in adding to a guitars tone.  James also reglued the bridge.  With the bridge properly glued we didn't need the bridge bolts that were common with this era of guitars so he removed them and filled the holes with some nice pearl dots.

This is a ladder braced instrument and I was a little concerned when making the purchase.  I have a few ladder braced instruments and feel that I
have that tonal range covered, so I was pleased to find that this guitar isn't your average ladder braced instrument.  The body size matches that of a dreadnaught at about 15.5" at the lower bout.  The dreadnaught sizing gives the tone a lot of extra body and keeps you out of the tonal range of ladder braced parlor guitars.  It is very loud when strummed, but the complexity of its tone really comes out when it is fingerpicked.  Gorgeous tone when you treat her like a lady.

This guitar was clearly a more upscale model made by the Regal factory.  It has some amazing all original appointments.  The only thing we changed out were the tuner buttons.  We added some very nice ivoroid buttons that play the part well.  The pearl inlays are really unique and beautiful.  The tuners are original Klusons with a pair of the coolest covers on them I have ever seen.  In fact I have never seen any like these before.  James says he thinks he has seen them on a couple of old Nationals.  25.5" scale with 14 fret neck, amazingly clean sunburst top with a fat maple V shaped neck and original bridge.  The nicest surprise was the wide frets that came with this guitar that are now in like new condition.  They allow you to dig into this instruments a little more than you can with those skinny frets that were popular on prewar guitars.

Beautifully aged sunburst finish

that is just a reflection on the pickguard - it is in perfect shape

you have to see this fretboard up close and in person to believe how clean it is

If you are a fan of guitar making history, you can't help but love this instrument.  Not only for its tone, beauty and the fact that it is very well constructed, but also for that little bit of mystery that surrounds it in terms of dating the instrument and exactly where it was made.  Thanks again to James Ralston for doing a great job bringing her to life and thanks to Nathan at Juke Box Bonfire for doing an equally good job making sure these instruments get into the hands of those who love them.

If you want to see a video of this guitar being played go to
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXBJv_kbvSc

if this link does not work just go to you tube and type in "regal playtime deluxe acoustic guitar"

Come back soon!!

There is more to come in the future including an old Oahu 66k with a reprofiled round neck, a 40's Regal, a couple of little tiny brother and sister supertones from the late 20's/early 30's, harmony roundhole archtop and more.  I have to find the time to get these guitars into blog ready condition before displaying them.

Eastwood Guitars

Here are a few more guitars that snuck into the backdoor of "your grandpa's guitar".  They are Eastwood guitars that were modeled after the old Supro/Valco/Airline models.  They've made it to these pages because though they are contemporary models their design has been based on models that were born in the 50's and 60's.  As I stated earlier in a post about Vintage 47 amps I was much more comfortable purchasing these instruments than I would have been taking a chance on the relics that float for sale across the internet.  Yes those old guitars are cool and have all the vibe in the world but the fact is it can often take an awful lot to get them up and running and most of them are at least double the price that you would pay for these newer Eastwood models that are ready to go right out of the box.

Mike Robinson runs Eastwood Guitars out of Canada.  I discovered him after being highly dismayed by the products Fender and Gibson were pushing out the door.  I mean a signature Merle Haggard telecaster for $5000-$6000 was a little too much to stomach.  I'm not sure who the target audience is for that instrument, especially in today's economy.  Now I happen to be a huge Merle Haggard fan and I can only hope he is receiving a little something for the use of his name, but I'm not sure I would spend that kind of money on the guitar that Merle wrote "Mama Tried" on, let alone a reissue of a guitar that Merle sometimes uses - even if I was rolling in the dough.  I don't mean to disparage the Telecaster name.  It happens to be one of my favorite instruments and one of the greatest guitar creations of all time, but the $300 cheapie that I have with a few modifications has served me just fine.

The point is I was looking for something different for a real fair price.  These guitars deliver.  The construction and electronics are great.  Amazingly heavyweight bodies (unlike their predecessors) that feel like they were really built to last.  These guitars remind me of the way this country used to build cars.  Heavy duty with lots of chrome.  Of course I was compelled to pair these babies up with my '83 Chevy Impala in the photos.  I wouldn't mind transferring some of the colors that Eastwood comes up with to that old Chevy.  I know, I know.  A fair amount of the construction is done overseas and one of my hopes for this blog has been to display uniquely American instruments.  So I failed!!  Oh well, there will be plenty of true American, depression era instruments to come.  These guitars surpassed my expectations by a longshot, so I felt they deserved a nod.

This model is probably one of the prettiest guitars I own.  I went wild for the color which is Indigo.  It is a guitar first, but the finish is so glassy that it moonlights as a mirror.  This is the Airline Indigo 3 pickup Deluxe limited edition model.  Yes that's a mouthful, but they only made 24 of these(this model is #11 of 24).  Each year Eastwood tries to pick a super funky color and do a very limited run of that color on one of their current models.  As you can see this guitar is overloaded with knobs and in turn overloaded with tones.  The action is super low for all the fast flyers out there and it plays great up and down the neck.

Lets get back to simplicity.  That is the way I like to keep it and why I love the aforementioned Telecaster and also why i love this guitar.  This is the H44 DLX.  It was modeled after the 1950's era Stratotone.  Great big baseball bat neck and very thick tone.  I play this guitar every chance I get.  The minihumbuckers are a nice change for me as I generally gravitate toward that single coil sound and bite.  Probably one of the best electric slide sounds you'll be able to conjure up.

Say Cheeeeeese!!  I see you taking that picture.

I'll keep this short and sweet.  I'm starting to feel like an add for Eastwood which is not my intention.  This is the RSII, modeled after the late 1950's Roy Smeck model.  Great rockabilly guitar.  Indescribable tone from the diamond pickups.  Check out Eastwood guitars at http://www.eastwoodguitars.com/ and at http://www.myrareguitars.com/

Taylor 510


I hesitated to add a post of this guitar as it doesn't even come close to falling in the category of depression era instruments that I am trying to stick to.  I guess I'm doing this one for me.  This Early 90's Taylor 510 has been my number one guitar for a long time.  It has played tons of shows and helped me write tons of songs.  I tend to think of the guitar not only as an instrument of art, but as a tool as well.  If a carpenter has a favorite hammer or chisel then i would have to say this is a favorite tool of mine.  I think of songwriting as a trade or a craft not unlike the work a plumber, electrician, or a carpenter has to do.  The proper tools are needed to do a good job.

I bought this guitar at Maple Leaf Music in Brattleboro, VT.  It was an incredible investment for me at the time.  I was working in a grocery store at the time and saved all my pennies for this guitar.  I saw it in the shop in the morning and literally stayed in Brattleboro all day trying to make the purchase decision.  I'm glad I pulled the trigger.  I can't think of another investment in my life that has paid off so well.



A long way from getting that Willie Nelson/Trigger road rash, but I'm getting there




Quite frankly, i'm not sure if I've seen another Taylor since this one that I would be interested in purchasing.  Something happened along the way that has disallowed me from gravitating towards them in the music shop.  Could be mass production.  The 510 I own was from a day when Taylor was a much smaller brand and Bob Taylor signed the guitars himself right on the neck block.  I can't tell you much about their instruments of the present day, but this guitar has never ever failed me.  Great construction, great tone.  The only work I've had to do on it was a recent bridge reset and fret cleanup by Steve Kovacik.  The bridge was lifting a little and Steve tightened it all up.  She sounds better than ever now.  Check out Steve's work at                 http://www.guitar-repair.com/